An operating system is a collection of software that manages the resources of a computing device and provides services for computer programs to operate within. There are many operating systems in use today. Common operating systems in use today include Microsoft Windows™, OS X®, iOS®, the open-source Linux® OS, and Android®. It should be understood that computing devices may include desktop computers, servers, laptop computers, portable devices such as phones and tablets, gaming consoles, digital video recorders, other devices containing computing elements, and the like.
Device drivers are computer programs that operate within an operating system and are used to operate or control a device attached to a computer. Device drivers communicate with devices that are attached to the computer. Device drivers allow a computer program to communicate with external devices even if the program has no specific knowledge of what type of the external device. For example, when a computer program issues a print command to a printer, a device driver handles the converting of information to a format that the printer may understand. A user may attach different printers from different manufacturers to the computer, but a program may still print to the different printers because the device drivers handle the communication to each printer. Many different devices use device drivers, including printers, video adapters, network adapters, sound cards, storage devices, cameras, and the like.